The Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) deployed its mobile van, Olive, to a Salem homeless camp being cleared on April 21. Staff members Jamie Baldwin and Michelle Carmona arrived at the former Costco parking lot at Hawthorne and Mission streets to help people as they gathered their belongings amid cold and misty weather.
The initiative aims to provide immediate support to those displaced from camps, making it easier for them to access benefits without traveling to an office. Many individuals lack transportation or necessary documents, making traditional services difficult to reach.
Carmona, a SNAP Employment and Training Navigator for District 3, said, “There was a sign posted that there was going to be a cleanup, but the sign was mostly destroyed. There was a lot of trauma going on for the people there.” Baldwin added that their team provided EBT cards for food assistance programs like SNAP and TANF directly at the site. “We got people EBT cards (Electronic Benefit cards for SNAP and TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families)) and referred people to employment trainings. One person wanted to get into addiction services and we got them a bed in a treatment facility,” Baldwin said.
Carmona recounted helping one man secure veteran housing after his truck—with all his possessions—was stolen: “One man needed housing. We got him into veteran housing, SNAP benefits, changed his phone and got him a new email address… He had nothing to sleep on for six days.” The team also offered practical support such as hot coffee throughout the day, phone charging stations, soup when supplies ran out, hygiene assistance including hand washing supplies—and even helped set up email accounts so clients could apply for jobs.
Baldwin emphasized how meeting clients where they are can make service delivery more effective: “An office is not always trauma informed. When we go out with the van, we are in THEIR house. We don’t judge… We truly walk beside them.” Carmona described how grateful many recipients were: “You would not believe the gratitude. People say things like ‘You made this so easy’… We try to break barriers down.”
The presence of ODHS vans has also improved relationships with community partners who now invite ODHS staff more frequently after seeing firsthand what services are provided during outreach events across Marion County.
